[13], Feeling an inner call to become a minister, he attended the American Baptist Theological Seminary in Nashville, Tennessee from 1957 to 1961 and became a Baptist preacher. He appeared headed for a career as a pop music singer he had signed a contract with a record label when he felt called to the ministry and enrolled in the American Baptist Theological Seminary in Nashville, where he joined the local chapter of the Southern Christian Leadership Conference. She was kind enough to join us here on our Washington studio. While every effort has been made to follow citation style rules, there may be some discrepancies. The accuser, one of his daughters, was 13-15 years old and lived with him in the Leesburg apartment. MARTIN: I mean you were a very young girl when the abuse started. ", (For more information about the support group, call Orrin at 722-4671.). After the verdict, Bevel claimed that the charges were part of a conspiracy to destroy his reputation, and said that he might appeal. Mr. Bevel had been released from prison in November because he had pancreatic cancer.. We have great country we live in that had slavery. MARTIN: How do you understand this as this kind of culture of acceptance of abuse of children? He is a celebrity civil rights leader. Bevel also attended workshops at the Highlander Folk School taught by its founder, Myles Horton, who emphasized grassroots organizing. Or purchase a subscription for unlimited access to real news you can count on. He's been violent, mean and abusive, but he's always been honest.". In 2005, Bevel was accused of incest by one of his daughters and abuse by three others. The judge . Ms. MILLS: I feel, I feel at peace with this whole process in terms of I'm happy that we stood on something and we followed it through. In spite of everything, I was a happy kid, resilient, she says. They agreed to continue until they had achieved these goals, and to ask for funding from the SCLC only if the group was involved in organizing a movement. And we have to find a way, because they exist. "People don't just. Those that suffer in similar or different ways need to know that they don't have to carry the burden of their trauma and pain for the rest of their lives. "I'm very proud to be the daughter of a man who contributed so much to the world through his civil-rights work," she told The Associated Press on Dec. 19, the day her father died at the age of 72. [25], In 1989, Bevel and Abernathy organized the National Committee Against Religious Bigotry and Racism. And yes, she dismissed it in that regard. As the Chicago movement neared its conclusion A. J. Muste, David Dellinger, representatives of North Vietnamese leader Ho Chi Minh, and others asked Bevel to take over the directorship of the Spring Mobilization Committee to End the War in Vietnam. Do you think that's what it was? I'm Michel Martin, and this is tell me more from NPR News. All rights reserved. Orrin and several of her siblings finally took action against him four years ago out of concern for his 7-and-a half-year-old daughter. James Luther Bevel (October 19, 1936 December 19, 2008) was a minister and leader of the 1960s Civil Rights Movement in the United States. Bevel never submitted the collected petitions and left the state the following summer. They agreed to work until they had ended segregation, obtained voting rights, and ensured that all American children had a quality education. The Rev. And I didn't say anything to them, mainly because they knew - because they had either witnessed it or I'd witness them doing behavior. MARTIN: Your story was very painful to read. And my sisters and my brothers also, you know, because my brothers were also stood behind us 100 percent and said, you know we have to do something. Omissions? Having background is important to get the whole picture. Mutual Fund and ETF data provided by Refinitiv Lipper. They could go to jail for this. She shares her story, reflections about her father, and her experience as an abuse survivor. He was recently released on bond while appealing a 15-year. During the trial, Bevel's daughter testified that she was repeatedly molested by Bevel beginning when she was just 6 years old, culminating in sexual intercourse in 1993 or 1994 that formed the basis of the incest charge. Bevel's daughter testified that she was repeatedly molested by Bevel beginning when she was just 6 years old, culminating in an act of sexual intercourse in 1993 or 1994 that formed the basis of the incest charge. And I always thought that was odd and that people would do something that's not going to be forgotten. And I wanted so much for him, not just to be a grandfather for grandfather's sake, but for him to find healing in himself and to come to some peace in himself so that he could be a grandfather and father. She married James Henry Bevel in Corpus Christi on January 27, 1956. Because the executor of Bevel's estate had not sought to prosecute the appeal, the Court affirmed the dismissal of his appeal as moot. I had no idea that it happened to anyone but me including my other sisters. I am equally devastated and disgusted by his pedophilia., James L. Bevel, 72, an Adviser to Dr. King, Is Dead, https://www.nytimes.com/2008/12/23/us/23bevel.html. Powered and implemented by FactSet Digital Solutions. That really made me feel not just powerless but that, what can you do? Get up-to-the-minute news sent straight to your device. Sherrilynn is also estranged from her brother and from both of her adult children. They worked together on civil rights, and had a daughter and son together. But he was also a child predator, who exploited the trust of his family by molesting his daughter Aaralyn Mills. Practices such as requiring payment of poll taxes and literacy tests administered in a discriminatory way by white officials maintained the exclusion of blacks from the political system in the 1960s. James Bevel was one of the key strategists of the civil rights movement. MARTIN: Sounds like you would have made a hell of an organizer? Ms. MILLS: Well first of all, I had that feeling, too, that I didn't want to touch it, that I have moved on with my life. He said his family mistakenly perceived his refusal to deny the specific allegations against him as an admission of guilt. Instead, she told the jury to focus on the single incident for which Bevel is charged: an act of sexual intercourse that occurred in 1993 or 1994 while the daughter was a teenager and was living with her father in Leesburg. King wanted to fill the jails with protesters, but it was becoming more difficult to find adults to march. By the time they entered Montgomery 54 miles away, the marchers were thousands strong. He was ordained as a Baptist minister in 1959 and went on to pastor the Chestnut Grove Baptist Church. In the '80s he broke ranks to join the controversial Lyndon LaRouche, and in 2007 he was arrested on charges of sexually abusing one of his daughters. Vivian and others, Bevel participated in the Nashville Sit-In Movement organized by Nash, whom he would later marry to desegregate the city's lunch counters. In 1965 SCLC gave its highest honor, the Rosa Parks Award, to James Bevel and Diane Nash for their work on the Alabama Voting Rights Project. In 1962, Bevel was invited to meet in Atlanta with Martin Luther King Jr, a minister who was head of the SCLC. Historian Taylor Branch quotes King in At Canaan's Edge: America in the King Years, 19651968 (2006) as saying that "Andrew Young had given in to doubt, Bevel to brains, and Jackson to ambition", and said that the movement had made them and now they were using the movement to promote themselves. As a subscriber, you have 10 gift articles to give each month. Its so amazing it doesnt matter if its yours or not. We are not just, you know, one way all the time. Bevel had 16 children with nine women. Three months after the March on Washington, Kennedy was assassinated in Dallas, Texas, and Vice President Lyndon B. Johnson ascended to the Oval Office. My childhood was isolated in terms of - I wasn't isolated in terms of I couldn't interact with people outside, or I didn't go to school but in terms of my father's teachings. James Bevel, one of the architects of the civil rights movement, a chief lieutenant to Dr. Martin Luther King, was also a child molester. In the 1960s, Bevel was a leader in the Southern Christian Leadership Conference and the Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee, two of the stalwart organizations that led efforts to desegregate the South. Chris Kaiser bought a kit and built a grain silo thinking he would use it for storage. The Court of Appeals remanded the case to the trial court to determine whether there was good cause not to abate the conviction. Ms. MILLS: Yeah, that could be some, definitely can. MARTIN: Aaralyn Mills tells her powerful story of rape and recovery in the pages of the Washington Post Magazine. I love him for his role in the passage of the 1965 Voting Rights Act and the vote I was able to cast that helped put a man of color in the White House. And my little sister who had a more recent experience in Chicago, she could have, but she could not talk. At her father's recent funeral in an Alabama church, Chevara Orrin of Winston-Salem listened to one civil-rights veteran after another praise him. The Rev. Visit our website terms of use and permissions pages at www.npr.org for further information. Less than a month after his sentencing in October 2008, Bevel was released from prison on appeal. She recently finished a book, Becoming Aaralyn, and is looking for a publisher, a search she thinks will lead to Europe. He entered the American Baptist Theological Seminary in Nashville in 1957; he graduated and was ordained in 1961. [19] He worked to create tenant unions and build grassroots action to "end" slums. They, Nash, and others stayed in Mississippi to work on grassroots organizing. She said . Happiness is amazing. Besides being a leader in the Children's Crusade in which police turned fire hoses and dogs on child protesters, Bevel was also an organizer at other civil rights movement events, including the 1965 march at Selma, Ala. Soon after, another three daughters said he had sexually abused them as . This information, his behavior in now also part of history. [12], In 1960, along with James Lawson's and Myles Horton's students Bernard Lafayette, John Lewis, Diane Nash, C.T. I wrote her I love you letters, and you know, this was my day letters. Powered and implemented by FactSet Digital Solutions. He and the others were arrested after they arrived in Jackson, Mississippi and tried to desegregate the waiting rooms in the bus terminal. I don't want to live that anymore. Much of it was revealed during a 2008 trial that ended with her father, the Rev. That's a playboy talking to a prostitute," Bevel said on the witness stand shortly before he was sentenced. As Dr. Martin Luther King's collaborator, Bevel was a key strategist of the Southern Civil Rights Movement. This text may not be in its final form and may be updated or revised in the future. And so I chose a very difficult conversation we had in June with a daughter of civil rights strategist James Bevel. He reminded SCLC's executive board and staff that evening that King had left "marching orders" that, if anything should happen to him, he intended for Abernathy to take his place as SCLC's Chairman. That it's supposed to be only for procreation, and you have to be forced to see that, just like you have to be forced to accept nonviolence by getting beaten. After high school he served in the U.S. Navy for a time and pursued a career as a singer. And he placed himself in the position of being the person who was going to save the world. Though not a lawyer, Mr. Bevel offered to represent Mr. Ray in court. *James Bevel was born on this date in 1936. He was a Black Civil rights activist and minister. After King was assassinated, Bevel made a bizarre[a] claim that James Earl Ray was not the killer and that he had evidence that Ray was innocent. All rights reserved. "There is something that reeks of moral depravity when an individual, whose sworn responsibility is to protect and serve and is fired for what. From previous discussions with King, and from work of American Friends Service Committee activist Bill Moyer, Bevel organized, and directed the Chicago open housing movement. [23] Bevel continued to oppose the Poor People's Campaign, but served as its Director of Nonviolent Education. 2023 FOX News Network, LLC. [31], In 1992, Bevel ran on LaRouche's ticket as the vice presidential candidate. How do we look at this country with these two dynamics? MARTIN: Your father's name is one that appears in many, many history books. But she wanted Athena with her: I refuse to let my daughter live without what I so desperately needed: stability, happiness, home., To that end, Liese works three jobs. It happened in the Memphis area when she staying with her father while her mother was out of town. Ms. MILLS: Well, I don't understand it. Their meetings occurred at Birmingham's 16th Street Baptist Church, and it was from there that Bevel directed the students, 50 at a time, to peacefully walk to Birmingham's City Hall to talk to Mayor Art Hanes about segregation in the city. We didn't know each other really, and we were just getting to know each other, but I didn't know how difficult it would be. Instead, Bevel mocked the notion of an apology. Lela was born in Brownwood, January 17, 1937, the oldest of four daughters of Berl and Lela Naomi (Sansing) Clark. At the time, Bevel was living in Leesburg, Virginia, and working with LaRouche's group, whose international headquarters was a few blocks from Bevel's apartment. He told the court that he was the father of 16 children by 7 women. He was recently released on bond while appealing a. Bevel selected the student teams for the buses. As an adult, Orrin asked her father why he had not provided for his children. Bevel died Friday in Virginia. MARTIN: Because you described kind of a cult-like environment where you were all being, the children, the family, the woman, and the family are being kind of trained to accept a certain kind of behavior. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. whose influence spurred a pivotal event of the civil rights movement, the childrens crusade in Birmingham, Ala., but whose reputation was later marred by fringe political associations and a criminal conviction this year on incest charges involving a teenage daughter, died Friday in Springfield, Va. "People don't just wake up one morning and stop being a pedophile," Orrin said. This was financially backed by the Unification Church of Sun Myung Moon, which appeared to be trying to improve its controversial image by allying with such respected leaders. In September 1963, a bombing at the 16th Street Baptist Church in Birmingham killed four young girls attending Sunday School and damaged the church. [24], In the 1980s, Bevel supported Ronald Reagan as president. The daughter is one of 16 children Bevel said he has had with several different women. A jury yesterday convicted an iconic figure in the civil rights movement of incest, after concluding that he had sex with his teenage daughter 15 years ago. MARTIN: You wrote her a letter telling her what happen. And I know that good can win.. Bevel suggested recruiting students in the campaign. On April 10, 2008, after a three-hour deliberation, the jury found Bevel guilty, his bond was revoked, and he was taken into custody. They should have been helping her father confront his problem, she said. Ms. MILLS: I mean we have to look at a lot of aspects of life, in those parallels. On December 19, 2008, at the age of 72, he died of pancreatic cancer in Springfield, Virginia. She testified Tuesday that he had sexual intercourse with her when she was 15 in the early 1990s after he pressured her by saying the sex would relieve him from demons that were sapping his strength. His contention that convicted assassin James Earl Ray was not guilty of Kings murder embarrassed many in the movement. [30] The commission was associated with conspiracy theorist Lyndon LaRouche, and sought to persuade the state legislature to reopen its two-year investigation into the Franklin child prostitution ring allegations. Bevel was convicted of incest in April 2008. Aaralyn Liese spoke out about her abuse in 2008 to protect a younger sister. [13] In 1986, Bevel, Chicago alderman Danny K. Davis, singer-songwriter Kristin Lems, and others participated in a project of creating a summit in Chicago for Gorbachev and Reagan to bring peace and resolution to the ongoing Cold War. [37] On October 15, 2008, the judge sentenced him, based on the jury's recommendation, to 15 years in prison and fined him $50,000. I think the community has not yet figured out what's the proper response to deal with pedophilia," said Orrin, who runs the WhiteSpace Gallery with her husband and is an administrator at Winston-Salem State University. So, I really felt powerless. MARTIN: Have you spoken to your father since the trial? Six weeks later, he died of pancreatic cancer. Do you see it that way? James Luther Bevel (born October 19, 1936 in Itta Bena, . What helped you to understand that? In a Post story chronicling Lieses decision to come forward about the abuse. Later efforts in Mississippi developed as Freedom Summer in 1964, when extensive voter education and registration efforts took place. Quotes displayed in real-time or delayed by at least 15 minutes. Court testimony revealed that accusation had stemmed from a family reunion during which several family members recalled having been molested by Mr. Bevel. She could not share it. Ms. MILLS: There are eight girls. You still found the strength to get together to try to rescue this younger sibling who was still in harm's way, according to what you had experienced. Forgiving her father, says Liese, now 32, allows her to hold on to good; it lets her hear her own laughter in her daughters. You know, he would make that kind of analogy. In March 1965, Mr. Bevel, a fiery orator, spoke at Brown Chapel A.M.E. Church in Selma, Ala., the starting point of a symbolic march to the Edmund Pettus Bridge, where demonstrators had been beaten two days earlier a day remembered as Bloody Sunday in a first attempt to march to Montgomery to protest discriminatory voting practices. He was looking at her and talking about her and, you know, being his jolly self, and I actually got really, really sad because I realized that, you know, I won't be able to experience him anymore. This movement ended within a Summit Conference that included Chicago Mayor Richard J. Daley. They also revealed that at least four other daughters Bevel had with various women have made similar allegations against him. A top lieutenant to Martin Luther King Jr. has been sentenced to 15 years in prison for incest. James L. Bevel is shown in a photoprovided by the Loudoun County Sheriff's Office. She filed for divorce in 2010 and fought to share custody of Athena. [35], During the trial, prosecutors presented key evidence: a 2005 police-sting telephone call recorded by the Leesburg police without Bevel's knowledge. Virginia was No. A bubbly toddler might not seem to have much in common with the daughter of a convicted child molester, but Liese sees only the similarities as Athena slips on the kitchen floor and bounces back, still laughing. Public defender Bonnie Hoffman urged the jury to ignore evidence that Bevel led an unconventional, communal lifestyle in which he taught that it was parents' duty to "sexually orient" their children.